Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Further Drop In Gaming Machine Numbers
The number of gaming machines in New Zealand pubs and clubs continued to decline in the last quarter of 2006, according
to gambling licensing statistics compiled by the Department of Internal Affairs.
In the three months to December 31, 2006, licence holders declined 1 per cent on the September 06 quarter and by 9.5 per
cent over the calendar year. The number of gaming machines over the same 12-month period dropped by 3.9 per cent.
The Department’s Director of Gambling Compliance, Mike Hill, said that this decline was expected but he now anticipates
a levelling out of gaming machine numbers with the installation of the Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) being
completed by March 18 2007.
Further information, including numbers of venues and machines by territorial authority and the changes in these numbers,
is available from the Department’s website: www.dia.govt.nz
Twenty-three regions recorded decreases in machine numbers while 20 registered increases. The most significant decreases
were in Wellington (23 machines), Napier (22) and Tasman District (15). Significant increases were registered in
Whangarei and Invercargill with 18 each and Auckland 14.
ENDS